A Plot of Land Behind a Church
Pastor Richard Toh sees a plot of land behind a church then being built, and thinks of a school.
How It Began
A church in Singapore, a village in Kampong Speu
It started as Hope International Primary School, in a village in Kampong Speu.
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Who started it
Glad Tidings International School was founded in April 2007 by Glad Tidings Church, Singapore, in partnership with ICM Singapore.
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Why it was started
Our aim is to raise the educational standards of the children in this part of Cambodia, because education is one of the ways to improve standards of living and to raise the future generation.
3
The first day
The school opened in October 2007 with three pupils and four teachers. About thirty children had joined by the end of that month.
4
A full school
Primary teaching grew into secondary, and then into high school. Today a child can be taught here from Grade 1 all the way through to Grade 12.
Milestones
The years that shaped the school
Land was bought in 2006. The school opened in 2007. These are the moments that changed it most.
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2005 -
2006The First Classrooms Are Built
Building starts on the first block for Hope International Primary School: two storeys, four classrooms, a principal’s office and a staff room.
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2007The School Opens
Hope International Primary School officially opens in April, run by Glad Tidings Church in Singapore in partnership with ICM Singapore. The first intake arrives in October: three pupils and four teachers on day one, and around thirty pupils by the end of the month.
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2008Enrolment Doubles
In its second year the school takes in twice as many children. Enrolment doubles to 76 pupils.
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2009The Classrooms Fill Up
Enrolment rises to 135 pupils. Space in the first block is getting tight.
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2010Land for a New School Site
The school acquires 1.7 hectares of land nearby: enough room for a new school site and for dormitories.
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2011Ground Is Broken on the New Building
Ground is broken on the new site and the first phase of construction begins. At the old site there are now 350 pupils, and the school is bursting at its seams.
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2012Renamed Glad Tidings International School
Hope International Primary School becomes GTIS. The first batch of Grade 9 pupils graduate with good results in the national examinations.
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2013High School Begins
Classes move into the new four-storey building with 16 classrooms, and the teachers’ and staff dormitories are finished. Teaching begins from Grade 10 upwards. The school also lost Pastor Wendy Ng this year; she died while serving here, and is remembered for giving her life to this work.
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2014The Multipurpose Building Opens
The school’s record also marks its renaming to Glad Tidings International School in May. In July the Multipurpose Building is finished, the second phase of the building work: a canteen with an auditorium above it seating six hundred, joined to the main school block by a covered linkway. Fourteen teachers and staff are baptised in its pool that same month, and the first Christmas service is held there in December.
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2015A Garden and Somewhere to Play
The School Science Eco Garden is finished in January. In March a mini basketball court and badminton courts are completed. In August one of nine Grade 9 pupils achieves an A in the national examinations, and all twenty-one of the school’s Grade 9 pupils pass with good or above-average grades.
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2016
The First Grade 12 Class
The first batch of GTIS pupils sit the National Grade 12 Examinations of Cambodia.
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2017Ten Years, Grades 1 to 12
The school marks its tenth anniversary. It teaches Grades 1 to 12, with 498 pupils, 25 full-time teachers and 5 support staff.
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2018–2019Steady Years
Two quiet years of steady growth, teaching every grade from 1 to 12.
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2019–2022
The Pandemic Years
COVID-19 brings two problems at once. The school has no experience of teaching online, and parents refuse to pay school fees. The teachers themselves offer to take pay cuts of thirty to fifty per cent so that the school can carry on. Church members, mission supporters and well-wishers give generously. The school stays open.
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2022–2024Rising From the Ashes
The school comes back. Classes fill again and the work of the previous years is picked up where it was left.
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2025Eight Classrooms and Two Science Labs
A three-storey block is added, with eight classrooms and two science laboratories.
Looking Ahead
The Turning Point Youth Centre
Preparing the next generation of leaders.
- Building began
- September 2025
- Completed
- May 2026
- Dedication
- 8 September 2026
GTIS is the foundation. The Youth Centre is the bridge.
Sixty per cent of Cambodia’s population is under thirty. Young people here meet real difficulty and real opportunity at once, and what they need is somewhere safe and welcoming to grow, to learn and to find one another. The Turning Point is meant to be that place: a hub for creativity, education and community, designed with young people in mind and for them.
Families and friends of the school are welcome at the dedication. Please get in touch if you would like to come, or to hear more about the centre.
Ask about the dedicationWhat the centre is for
Its vision and its mission, in the school’s own words.
Vision
Our vision for the centre
To create a vibrant, youth-focused space that fosters personal growth, skill development and community building, enabling young people to unlock their full potential while reaching out to them for Christ.
Mission
Our mission for the centre
To provide a safe, supportive and dynamic environment where young people can find resources, take part in enriching activities and build lasting friendships with their peers and with mentors. Through sport, education, enterprise and faith, we aim to change lives and communities.
What will be inside
Five parts, each of them something pupils and young people from the neighbourhood can walk into.
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Alumni Club
Somewhere for former pupils to come back to, keep in touch and give something back. Alumni mentor pupils who are still here, talk to them about work and careers, and lend a hand with what the school is doing.
2
Football Club
A club open to the neighbourhood as well as the school, playing matches against other community and provincial sides. It gives young people somewhere to put their energy, and it is part of how the school works against drug use.
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A Two-Storey Building
Upstairs, a hall seating a hundred and twenty for concerts, career talks, leadership courses and conferences — and, before anything else, a church for young people. Downstairs, a café run by the pupils themselves, where they learn to handle a business, customers and a kitchen.
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Study and Skills
Online university courses, so that pupils from low-income families can work and study at the same time. Alongside them, workshops on finding work, on leading, and on growing up well.
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Outreach and Faith
Fellowship, worship and Bible study, and outreach into the community around the school — including drug prevention and support for families.
Our Crest
What the school crest means
Every part of the crest stands for something we want our pupils to carry with them.
Two concentric circles
A complete and holistic education, transforming each student from the inside out.
The dove
The Holy Spirit nurturing and directing our students’ lives.
The open Bible
Constant enquiry and reading of His Word.
The cross at the centre
The redemptive work of Christ.
Stalks of rice grain
Abundant RICE: Resilience, Integrity, Compassion and Excellence.
The colours
Yellow and green are the colours of the rice fields of Cambodia. White stands for purity and truth. Red stands for the blood of Christ.